FILE 592 / 26 April 2025 / 73 MIN / express

Murder Texts Are Forever

Clifton, ArizonaListen

The town

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

We are going to Clifton, Arizona... this is Greenlee County, in the far southeastern corner of Arizona about 0:03:26

History, in brief

Town note

The area was first known as Goulding's Camp, named for one of the early miners.

about 0:04:59

1873

The town of Clifton was founded in 1873, with miners settling along the canyons and the banks of the stream.

about 0:05:05

Town note

Mining companies were formed and claims were staked out and developed; the whole history of the town is based on mining.

about 0:05:13

Town note

If the mine shut down everybody would leave, because there is nothing else there.

about 0:05:22
All 5 history facts

Town note

The area was first known as Goulding's Camp, named for one of the early miners.

about 0:04:59

1873

The town of Clifton was founded in 1873, with miners settling along the canyons and the banks of the stream.

about 0:05:05

Town note

Mining companies were formed and claims were staked out and developed; the whole history of the town is based on mining.

about 0:05:13

Town note

If the mine shut down everybody would leave, because there is nothing else there.

about 0:05:22

Town note

Copper is the big thing mined there, and after 140 years of continuous mining they are still pulling copper out.

about 0:05:41

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$118,500
Median household incomeabout $69,000
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2025

Population

"3,780"

No direction stated.

As told in 2025 about 0:04:00

Median household income

"about $69,000"

Comparison: "right at the national average". Direction: about the same.

As told in 2025 about 0:04:20

Median home price

"$118,500"

No direction stated.

As told in 2025 about 0:04:32

The reviews

3.3 / 5 · average of 4

4 stars

“Lived there since childhood; a tiny town that can be very toxic, and there is not enough for teenagers and young adults to do.”
about 0:05:59

4 stars

“A great sense of family and community; everybody works in the same place and the town loves to put on events for the community.”
about 0:06:45

3 stars

“Only one big company to work for, the mine, which pays the best; several smaller places pay less.”
about 0:07:05

2 stars

“Not many places to choose from but there are several bars, and the grocery store is mediocre and overpriced.”
about 0:07:19

In Arizona

Closest episodes

  1. Three Suspects & A MoronSilver City, New Mexico · 6 July 202399 km / 62 miShow on map
  2. A Young, Budding Serial KillerSt. Johns, Arizona · 1 March 2017164 km / 102 miShow on map
  3. An Explosive & Terrible MysteryCatalina Foothills, Arizona · 4 January 2024170 km / 106 miShow on map
  4. Birthday Murder PresentOro Valley, Arizona · 28 February 2026172 km / 107 miShow on map
  5. You Can't Dismember Your ProblemsFlorence, Arizona · 20 February 2020199 km / 124 miShow on map

The story

Matthew Gerald Meisner was born in August 1984 and grew up in Tucson, Arizona, the son of Gene and Raymond, in a happy home with two brothers and two sisters. A big, stocky, quiet man, he had wrestled at school and went on to Pima Community College. After four or five years she went to rehab and had been sober about two years when she met Matthew.

They married in 2013 and she soon became pregnant. Matthew took a job at the Morenci copper mine and they moved to Safford, about forty minutes away. Their son was born extremely prematurely and spent months in hospital; a daughter followed about eighteen months later, and a third child was on the way when the marriage collapsed in 2017. The divorce gave them 50-50 custody, but the arrangement was bitter.

Matthew began dating Nicole Chacon, a fellow mine worker, in about 2018, and by 2019 they were engaged, planning to marry on St Patrick's Day 2020. It was a lie; she had downloaded the pictures from the internet. She also used the illness to keep him away from the children. Matthew petitioned for full custody, and a hearing was set for 11 February 2020.

He had left a fifteen-year marriage for her, and although she later called the relationship brief, the messages suggested otherwise. On 10 February 2020, just after five in the morning, a fire chief driving on U.S. 191 near Safford found Matthew's black Chevrolet Tahoe crashed in the dark at the Horseshoe Curve between Clifton and Morenci. Matthew was slumped in the front seat, covered in blood. The Tahoe had fourteen bullet holes and he had been shot three times in the head with a nine-millimetre pistol.

Nicole drove past on her way to work, stopped, got back in and drove on; questioned later she said she had not known it was Matthew's car, and a gunshot residue test was negative. A witness then reported hearing a pop and seeing a white sedan make a U-turn and speed south on U.S. 191. A search of the house found a nine-millimetre Ruger with fourteen rounds missing, and ballistics matched it.

Police established the cancer was fake and recovered deleted texts from her phone records. The judge called her manipulative and a danger to society.

Matthew's children were five, four and two when he was killed.

The case

Murder of Matthew Meisner

Victims

Matthew Gerald Meisner. born August 1984 in Pima County, Arizona; copper miner at the Morenci mine; father of three

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 26 April 2025.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Nicole Chacon. Matthew's fiancee and a fellow worker at the Morenci mine
Samuel Sandoval. grandfather, owner of the white Cadillac
Jeremy Ford. Greenlee County attorney
Gene and Raymond. Matthew's parents

The timeline

  1. August 1984 Matthew Gerald Meisner is born (Tucson)about 0:12:22
  2. October 1986 is bornabout 0:14:09
  3. 2011 Matthew and meetabout 0:13:20
  4. 2013 Matthew and marryabout 0:17:13
  5. Their son is born extremely premature and spends months in hospitalabout 0:18:38
  6. about a year and a half later Their daughter is bornabout 0:19:17
  7. 2017 The marriage collapses and they divorce; takes the children to her parents' home in Tucson ( 's home)about 0:20:47
  8. December 2017 gives birth to their third child ( 's home)about 0:20:58
  9. 2018 Matthew begins dating Nicole Chacon, a fellow worker at the Morenci mine (Morenci Copper Mine)about 0:22:33
  10. 2019 Matthew and Nicole become engaged and plan to marry on St Patrick's Day 2020about 0:23:05
  11. fall of 2019 tells Matthew she has cancer and sends him pictures of herself with a shaved headabout 0:23:38
  12. late 2019 Nicole confronts ; slaps her and they scuffle ( 's home)about 0:25:42
  13. late 2019 files a child protective services complaint alleging Matthew and Nicole abuse the children; investigators find no evidenceabout 0:26:28
  14. late 2019 Matthew petitions for full custody; a hearing is set for February 11, 2020about 0:27:30
  15. five days before the shooting A man in a white sedan photographs Matthew's car outside home while Matthew is on the phone to Nicole; Matthew photographs the plate and texts it to her ( 's home)about 0:40:40
  16. a few days before the murder texts that he has been outside Matt's all night and has not seen him (Matthew Meisner's house)about 0:56:32
  17. the day before the custody hearing texts that he does not want to do it; she replies that if he wants to marry her he needs to show what kind of man he is and kill her ex-husband (Matthew Meisner's house)about 0:57:01
  18. February 10, 2020, just after 5 a.m. A fire chief finds Matthew's shot-up black Chevrolet Tahoe off the road; Matthew is dead from three gunshot wounds to the head (U.S. 191 crash site)about 0:28:06

Places and phrases

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode